The Quan Chi Uprising

As you may know, I main Smoke and Quan Chi. That reset I found a while back involved Quan Chi's standing 4 is working REALLY well, and I haven't seen anyone else use it. I find that the advantage the 4 gives is immense, it's enough to stop pretty much anything they try to do besides block if you follow up with F1-2, which also really catches them off guard because the second hit is low.

I remember for almost an entire round I had this one guy in the reset, I first did Quan Chi's low-mid combo starter and a short combo into trance, then I began. I did 4 to F1-2-Trance twice, then once I figured the guy learned how to block F1-2, I caught him off guard with Quan's overhead U3-Trance, and did a full combo from there to finish the match.

Basically, people are realizing how viable Quan Chi really is, and in the past 2 days, 2 people have invited me to XBL parties and asked me to teach them Quan Chi's mixups and how to defend themselves from them. I predict a rise in Quan Chi's popularity and recognition very soon, just you watch lol. Bottom tier my ass

I remember during the early stages of the game people had Quan Chi down the bottom of the tiers which was ridiculous. Quan Chi has to be played very different compared to other characters but when he is in his zone he is very hard to stop. His main problem is once he's knocked down everyone's ground game looks baddass.

Premium Supporter

But like you said, your strategy only worked because the opponent did not understand Quan Chi's mix-up. Once someone has an understanding of his gimmicky mix-up, it becomes rather weak. Mix-up aside, Quan Chi still has his issues like wake-up, speed, pokes, etc.
And is there a reason to perform 4 instead of 1,1 xx Sky Drop as an ender? I can't check right now but I don't recall any... Do you have more advantage? Can you force the opponent to block or be hit by u+3?

But like you said, your strategy only worked because the opponent did not understand Quan Chi's mix-up. Once someone has an understanding of his gimmicky mix-up, it becomes rather weak. Mix-up aside, Quan Chi still has his issues like wake-up, speed, pokes, etc.
And is there a reason to perform 4 instead of 1,1 xx Sky Drop as an ender? I can't check right now but I don't recall any... Do you have more advantage? Can you force the opponent to block or be hit by u+3?

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Personally I just find it a lot easier to land, and 1-1-Sky Drop is usually only 1% more damage than 4

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But like you said, your strategy only worked because the opponent did not understand Quan Chi's mix-up. Once someone has an understanding of his gimmicky mix-up, it becomes rather weak. Mix-up aside, Quan Chi still has his issues like wake-up, speed, pokes, etc.
And is there a reason to perform 4 instead of 1,1 xx Sky Drop as an ender? I can't check right now but I don't recall any... Do you have more advantage? Can you force the opponent to block or be hit by u+3?

Click to expand...

No, there's no reason. You're also missing out on the meter building that using the Skydrop gives you. Skydrop gives you a guaranteed rune trap afterwards, so ending combos with 4 isn't giving you any new positive situations.

And as others said, it's easy to walk over people when they can't block the mixups. When they learn, you have to change your game. I may create an advanced quan video soon because we've discovered lots of new ideas for fighting while not depending a lot on the mixups.

Personally, I think Quan's tier is very hard to define. He's essentially two different characters depending on his meter. Everything is about the meter and EX Rune setups. Without meter, he's very very limited, but when played right he can still do really well with his tools. But against any rushdown character, he's dead unless he has the meter. His viability fluctuates wildly.

I think standing 4 is actually viable...I used it before I knew of 11skydrops...but consider this:

Standing 4 - puts the opponent slightly further from you which means they can escape, but they'd most likely be blocking as they predict a mix up to follow. The additional distance allows you to attempt a cross over jump punch or better yet [f1, 2+trance]. The space makes the first punch miss however the second will move forward an hit low. The wiff has a chance to confound opponents- i've used it to great success...but I find 11skydrop better honestly...I only use standing 4 when I want to be flashy and for addition mind games.

11skydropwiff- I just thought of this, but is this at all viable? Like after a trance go in and start you string up and when you skydrop you move behind them rather than go for the hit. I know you lose the stagger but who knows! Perhaps incorporating the wiff into your tactics could open up your opponent to more mistakes. Because the way I see it, the moment they see you missed they'll want to unblock and punish you. The moment they realize this your already starting up your string...I think Quan's low+overhead would be good in this situation.

It seems to me that once your opponent knows Quan's game play they end up stuffing everything you try...so does any know of any new Quan tricks?

Premium Supporter

Im with admiral. I'm sure after the patch that 11 skydrop no longer goes into runetrap. It works against a lot of people who stand their and block but I've had people jump out of it, whilst getting hit by 21 though so dunno mix up maybe?

I thought the only reliable way to tack runetrap onto a combo was after ex skull then a jip.

You're timing the Rune Trap incorrectly, then. Go test it yourself. Get a second controller and hold jump, or use the training dummy's jump option; the opponent can't get out. There was a thread about this before, as well.

I think his mix ups are only good right now because you dont play to many Quan's. He's really the epitome of risk reward. F+1,2 is awsome but not easily hit confirmed so people tend to go right into trance, once blocked he eats full combo. B+3, 1+2, is easily blocked and poked. The only one that still gets me is the U+3 because with Quan you generally tend to block low, but once they catch onto that you cant rely on it because there's no hit confirm into trance. Add in his shitty wake up game and terrible sky drop and he's still somewhere down there with Sheeva.

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